I’ve never been one to believe in fairy tales and all that bullshit. Even when I was little and my mom would read me bedtime stories, I remember rolling my eyes whenever she got to the end. I may have been young but I was smart enough to know that happily ever after rarely, if ever exists.

As little as I believed in them then, I believed in them even less after my parents passed away. If two girls who were barely teenagers could lose their parents at such a young age, that did nothing but prove that life isn’t fair. Not only did happily ever after not exist, but life as we knew it no longer existed either.

As jaded as I’ve always been, I looked over at Liam speeding away from the parking lot and realized that I may have been wrong all along. I had no clue if there was going to be a happily ever after for me but I sure as hell was staring at a real life knight in shining armor who had come to my rescue when I needed him the most.

He had shown up in my time of need and made sure I was protected from the evil villain. I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of it all.

Liam asked me if I wanted him to take me home. I started to say yes but I stopped myself. I didn’t want to go home. Sarabelle had been spending all of her free time with her new boyfriend and I really didn’t want to be alone after the night I’d had.

I asked him if he would take me back to his place. Kade knew where I lived and I was afraid he might try to come to my house hoping to finish what he started.

“If you don’t want to take me back to your place, we could just drive around for a little while. It’s up to you. I didn’t know if you’d feel uncomfortable having me at your place or not.”

“Don’t be silly,” he said. “I want to make sure you’re okay. If you feel safest coming back to my house, then that’s where we’re going to go.”

It was strange to have someone around who genuinely cared about me. The only men who ever paid attention to me were the ones who were trying to get into my panties. It was what I was used to and what I came to think of as normal.

Did Liam want to get into my panties?

Maybe.

But what I was starting to appreciate most was that wasn’t what motivated him to be there for me. It was a very welcomed change and a feeling that I felt I could get used to.

Back at his house, Liam started a fire and had me sit down on the couch while he went into the kitchen. I was trying very hard to relax but that was proving to be extremely difficult after the night that I’d had. He’d been gone for a few minutes before he returned carrying an over-sized coffee mug.

“Here, I made you some hot cocoa,” he said as placed the cup on the coffee table in front of me.

“Really? Hot cocoa? Come on Liam, what are we, twelve?” I joked, thinking of how funny it was that he would serve me hot cocoa. “Is there at least some kind of alcohol in it?”

“I’m sorry, I thought you’d like it after the night you’d had. I remember coming to your house when we are all pretty young. If one of you girls were having a bad day or something was bothering you, your mom would always make you a big mug of hot chocolate. It always seemed like that made you feel better.”

He was right. I don’t know what I felt worse about: the fact that I’d insulted Liam when he was trying to do something nice or the fact that I’d completely forgotten that my mother used to do that for me.

A flood of memories took over inside my head and I could suddenly remember each and every time she did it for me.

I remembered a time that I fell off my bike and skinned my knee badly. Another time was when this boy I had a crush on in second grade sat with little Sarah at lunch instead of me. It didn’t matter how little my problem was, my mom always tried to make me feel better.

There were no words I could say that would let him know how much I appreciated him doing that for me and helping me remember very happy thoughts about my parents. Instead, I stood up and gave him a hug.

I looked down into the cup and noticed that he had covered the top of the cocoa with miniature marshmallows, which was something else my mom used to do.

As I sat there, Liam and I made a bunch of small talk. He let me lead the conversation, which I assumed was because he didn’t want to ask any questions that might make me feel uncomfortable. I appreciated that very much.

I also appreciated the fact that he wasn’t asking what took place between Kade and me, even though I was positive he had to be wondering what was meant by the photos comment Kade had made.

The problem was, I was starting to feel like he should know everything. After what he had done for me and the feelings that I was developing for him, I couldn’t come right out and say it, I’d have to wait for the right time. When there was a small break in our conversation, I took a deep breath and told Liam that I wanted to tell him something.

“Please don’t be mad at me,” I said, already fighting back tears.

“What is it Lexi? You can tell me anything.”

“It’s about what Kade said back in that parking lot. I want to tell you what he was talking about but I don’t want to hurt you. It all happened because I was confused about everything.”

“That’s fine, I’m here to listen,” he said, taking my hands into his.

“Okay,” I said as I swallowed a lump in my throat. “This all starts back at the gala. There was a reason I was acting the way I was. Not long after I got there, I ran into Kade and was actually trying to flirt with him. As usual, he was a big asshole to me and ended up pissing me off. That’s when I started drinking heavily. This was all before what happened with us out by the gardens.”

Liam was listening to me intently.

“Well, after what happened with me and you, I was very confused about everything, which was why I wasn’t answering your calls or returning your text messages. From out of the blue, Kade called me. I wasn’t going to answer his call either but I was curious to see what he wanted.”

His reaction started to change once he realized I was ignoring his calls but answered Kade when he contacted me. Still, he remained quiet, letting me continue on with my story.

“He was calling because he wanted a piece of ass. He didn’t come right out and say it but it was pretty obvious by the way he was talking. I wasn’t about to give it up to him after the way he had treated me at the dance but I wanted to make him think he had a chance.”

Liam’s face expressed hurt and betrayal as he continued listening to me. “I agreed to go out with him later that night. I got dressed up in one of my most revealing outfits and I was looking damn good. The whole evening, I kept catching him trying to look down my dress, almost like he was making plans for what he was going to do later that night. I did my best to tease him, having every intention of leaving him with blue balls by the time the evening was over.”

“Lexi, why are you telling me this? I really don’t think I want to know where this is going.”

“No, it’s important. I really need to get this out. It’s important that you know.”

“Okay,” he sighed, “go ahead then.”

“As the night went on, Kade had been feeding me drink after drink, hoping to get me fucked up enough to go home with him. I guess he didn’t realize that I’ve been a party girl for years and was buzzed at best. I had to run to the restroom at one point and when I got back, he had ordered fresh drinks. After that, the night gets blurry. He put something into my drink. That motherfucker drugged me.”

His chin fell as I told him the details. “The next thing I knew; I woke up completely naked in a strange hotel room. I was surrounded by pictures that he had taken of the two of us while I was passed out. He wanted to use those pictures to blackmail my sister into sleeping with him. That’s what he was referring to when he brought up the pictures when we were in the parking lot. I didn’t mean for any of that to happen but I didn’t want you to find out some other way and be hurt by it.”

I was trying to gauge Liam’s reaction by the look on his face. It was obvious he was hurt and angry. I hoped that he wasn’t upset at me as I would never have let any of that go down if I hadn’t been drugged. Whatever he was feeling, he was willing to push it to the side for me.

“You’ve had a long night,” he said. “Why don’t you take my bed for the night so you can sleep well. I’m more than happy to crash out here on the couch.”

I couldn’t believe he would offer me his bed, especially after what I had just told him. He must have really cared about me to be so sweet and unselfish. I followed him into his bedroom and climbed into his bed.

All of my adrenaline had worn off and I was beginning to realize how exhausted I was. He tucked me, softly kissed my forehead and started to walk out of the room.

“Liam, why don’t you sleep in here tonight too?” I asked, still not wanting to be by myself.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? I really think you need to get some sleep.”

“I do, I’m exhausted. Maybe you could just hold me while I fall asleep?”

“Okay, scoot over,” he said as he climbed into the bed next to me.

This gentle guy was quite the contrast to the bad boy I’d been with at the bondage club. I thought it was kind of cool to see someone have two completely different sides to them and it made me wonder if that’s what I needed. Maybe instead of a bad boy, I just needed a good guy who could be bad when he needed to be.

Liam laid on his back and I snuggled in close to him, resting my head on his chest. I fell asleep in no time, feeling safe in his arms. That night, I had to most restful sleep I’d had in ages. My typical nightmares were replaced with good dreams. I didn’t toss and turn. I just slept and it was something I’d been missing for so long.

When I woke up the next morning, I was in the bed all by myself. The smell of coffee, bacon, eggs, and toast filled the air. Wrapping myself up in the blanket, I made my way out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.

“Good morning,” he said as soon as he saw me. “Did you sleep well?”

“Very well, thank you so much for letting me crash here last night.”

“You’re very welcome. Hungry?”

“Starving.”

Liam had gotten out of bed early to cook us breakfast. No man has ever cooked me breakfast before. That was the moment that I realized I was falling for him. He really is the perfect mix of good and bad.

I never imagined a man with both qualities could exist, or at the very least, I was too caught up in the bad boy aspects to notice, but there I was, sitting there with him and realizing I’d found the one I’d needed all along.

I knew Liam liked me and, for the first time, I was ready to admit that I liked him as well. There was just one thing holding me back: that psychotic ex-girlfriend of his. Camilla seemed like a crazy bitch.

Normally, I wouldn’t have given a second thought to someone like her but she seemed hell bent on humiliating me and taking claim to him.

She seemed insistent on scoring him for herself. Fortunately, Liam didn’t seem to be harboring any feelings for her. After all, he could have stayed at the bondage club with her but he chose to follow me instead.

As we were finishing up breakfast, Liam’s phone started to ring. He looked at his screen with a confused look in his face. He didn’t recognize the number that was calling. Hesitantly, he answered it. I held my breath and waited, certain it was going to be Camilla calling. I only exhaled when Liam mouthed that it was Christian Wilde calling him.

I thought it to be strange that he would be calling Liam. The two weren’t exactly friends, not that they disliked each other or anything. Apparently he had tried calling my phone but it was dead so he was sent straight to voice mail. He’d been dating my sister for a little while and he made her the happiest I’d ever seen her.

He was a true bad boy in every sense of the word. She’d managed to turn him into one of the sweetest guys on the planet. I have no clue how she did it. He was a playboy who wouldn’t be tied down but in the end, he fell for her and love conquered all. See, fairy tales do exist!

Anyway, Christian was calling because he wanted to propose to my sister. He’d been actively avoiding her in order to make preparations. He wanted to get Liam and I involved, as he knows we are the people that meant the most to her.

Liam discussed the details with him and he was genuinely happy to be helping. That made me happy because I always suspected that he had a thing for Sarabelle growing up but seeing his reaction told me that she was a friend and nothing more.

We made plans to go to his house and help him surprise her as he proposed. I was happy for my sister but couldn’t help but feel a little jealous as well.